By ANGELA GALLOWAY, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Want to open a strip club in Seattle? The city hasn't made it this easy in decades.

Thanks to Tuesday's election and long-running political indecision, there's little on the books to tie the hands of wannabe club owners -- including one who already tried this week to launch a club in North Seattle.

The idea of an unbridled cabaret industry might have certain business interests and voyeurs drooling, but it's also got some politicos warning voters might have unleashed more than lap dances.

"I do see the potential for a number of these (club applications) coming in," Mayor Greg Nickels said Wednesday. "And, unfortunately, right now we're in a position where they could go in any neighborhood business district in the city."

The city's lack of zoning rules was not the voters' doing. Nickels and the City Council have been at an impasse all year over where the clubs should be allowed.

What voters decided Tuesday was to reject conduct rules that Nickels and the council had drawn up to undermine the profitability of such clubs. They included a "4-foot rule" to keep dancers out of reach of patrons -- meaning no lap dances and no direct tipping.

Three Seattle clubs funded Referendum 1 to challenge those regulations -- to the tune of more than $850,000. Their campaign centered on the argument politicos had more pressing issues than acting as "moral nannies."

There was no organized opposition and voters rejected the rules handily. The broader impact of that decision is that now there is little in city laws to discourage new clubs from opening.

"(Voters) were saying there are a lot more important things for us to be working on," Nickels said. "And I am saying that one of the things that we need to work on is the zoning so that we don't have these things in our residential neighborhoods."

Seattle's zoning codes don't specifically regulate "adult cabarets." That means they're allowed in most any Seattle business district along with other performing arts theaters.

They must adhere to building and occupancy codes on matters such as theater sizes and exits. Beyond that, they are allowed in commercial areas throughout the city -- from Wallingford to West Seattle, First Hill to Fremont.

Nearly a year ago, Nickels submitted to the council a proposal to establish a single district for such clubs in an industrial 310-acre area of Sodo.

"Councilman (Peter) Steinbrueck has had legislation on his desk since January," Nickels said. "It's time for him to do what he gets paid $100,000 a year to do. And that's make law."

But Steinbrueck, chairman of the urban planning committee, said the council had waited more than two years for that proposal.

"I'm not taking any blame or responsibility for the delays here," Steinbrueck said. "If anybody stalled the efforts to appropriately zone for what is considered by the courts a legitimate business, it's the mayor."

Still, last April, Steinbrueck predicted Nickels' legislation would be quickly and quietly approved. But then dozens of residents of the nearby neighborhoods of Georgetown and South Park urged for a dispersal zoning.

In response, Steinbrueck turned to the city's Planning Commission for advice. In late August, the commission opined against Nickels' plan.

Since then, Steinbrueck has conducted several meetings to begin work on a new plan, he said. All nine council members favor the citywide approach, Steinbrueck said. But such a plan will likely take at least three or four months to develop, he said.

Until recently, politicians got around Seattle's lack of zoning -- and avoided a messy debate about where to allow clubs -- by renewing a moratorium against new venues for 17 years. But a federal judge ruled the prohibition unconstitutional last year and tossed it.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by businessman Bob Davis, who had wanted to open a club downtown. The city paid Davis $500,000 to settle his suit. Now Davis is looking for a new location.

Davis applied for a license Tuesday afternoon to operate a club on Aurora Avenue North. But Davis said Wednesday that he will likely drop those plans because the landlord rejected his lease offer.

"I'll find another place," Davis said. "I do plan to open in Seattle. I'll be open within six months to a year."